Sectional hot top



E. MARBURG SECTIONAL HOT TOP 3 Sheets-Sheer, 1

Filed April 27, 1956 .26 I/VVEIVTOR. EDGAR MARBURQ A451;

his Attorney.

Aug. 25, 1959 E. MARBURG SECTIONAL HOT TOP Filed April 27, 1956 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN WIN TOR.

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EDGAR MARBURG,

E. MARBURG SECTIONALYHOT TOP Aug. 25, 1959 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed April 27, 1956 his Alia/nay.

SECTIONAL HOT TOP Edgar Marburg, Pittsburgh, Pa., assignor to United States Steel Corporation, a corporation of New Jersey Application April 27, 1956, Serial No. 581,181

4 Claims. (Cl. 22--147) This invention relates to a sectional hot top and more particularly to such a hot top for ingot molds and the like. Such hot tops are shown in my prior Patents Nos. 2,433,- 775, dated December 3, 1947, 2,444,838, dated July 6, 1948 and 2,465,977, dated March 29, 1949 as well as in my copending application Serial No. 378,921, filed September 8, 1953, now Patent No. 2,782,478, dated February 26, 1957. While the sectional hot tops shown therein are satisfactory for certain uses they still have certain drawbacks from the standpoint of manufacturing costs and handling. Furthermore, they are not suitable for use with big-end-up molds. In big-end-down molds only a short portion of the hot top extends above the mold whereas in big-end-up molds the majority of the hot top is above the mold. Thus when the metal is cast there is a tendency for the sections of the hot top to separate with resulting leakage of molten metal through the joints.

It is therefore an object of my invention toprovide sectional hot tops which may be used either with big-enddown or big-end-up molds.

This and other objects will be more apparent after referring to the following specification and attached drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a plan view of a sectional hot top assembled on an ingot mold;

Figure 2 is an enlarged plan view showing the joint between an end and side slab;

Figure 3 is an elevation of the side slab showing the face that contacts the ingot;

Figure 4 is an end view of the slab of Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a top plan view of the slab of Figure 3;

Figure 6 is a view, similar to Figure 3, showing the end slab;

Figure 7 is an end view of the slab of Figure 6;

Figure 8 is a top plan view of the slab of Figure 6;

Figure 9 is a view in elevation showing the assembled slabs on a mold and looking inwardly from the outer side of an end slab;

Figure 10 is a top plan view of a modified sectional hot top as used in a large rectangular mold; and

Figure 11 is a sectional view taken on the line XI-XI of Figure 10.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, reference numeral 2 indicates the top of a rectangular big-end-up mold. The hot top consists of two refractory side slabs 4 and two refractory end slabs 6. The side slab 4 has a substantially vertical smooth inner face 8 while its outer face has a depressed portion 10. The bottom of the inner face 8 is rounded at 12. The outer face has a portion 14 which is depressed an amount less than portion 10. A plurality of holes 16 are provided in the wall of the slab 4 for a purpose which will appear later. The tops of the end of the slabs 4 are preferably cut away at 18. A generally vertical groove 20 is provided in the inner face of slab 4 a distance from each end thereof. The bottom of the groove 20 tapers downwardly and inwardly at 22 for a purpose which will appear later. The inner side States Patent 0 Patented Aug. 25, 1959 ice wall 24 of each groove 20 slopes outwardly in a downward direction so that the groove is wider at the top than at the bottom. A generally vertical slot 26 is provided in the top of each slab 4 adjacent its ends.

Slab 6 has a generally vertical inner face 28 while its outer face has a depressed portion 30. The bottom of inner face 28 is rounded at 31. The ends of the slabs 6 have generally vertical tongues 32 which have tapered sides 34. Portion 36 of the end face is normal to the face 28. Portion 38 slops inwardly toward the other end face of the slab 6. The width of the groove 20 is greater than the width of the tongue 32. The height of the tongue 32 adjacent portion 36 is slightly greater than the depth of slot 20 and the height of the opposite side of the tongue 32 is less than the depth of the slot 20. A generally vertical slot '40 similar to slot 26 is provided on the outer face of slab 6 adjacent its ends.

To assembly the hot top on the mold 2 a A in. round steel pin 42 is placed in each lower hole 16 and the side slabs 4 placed on opposite sides of the mold 2 with the pins '42 resting on top of the mold as best shown in Fig ure 9. The end slabs 6 are then inserted between the side slabs 4 with the tongues 32 in the grooves 20. Because groove 20 is slightly wider than tongue 32, especially at the top, the tongues 32 will pass readily into the grooves 20. As the end slabs 6 are moved downwardly in the slots 20 the outer faces of the slabs 6 are forced towards the mold wall. The lower portion of the tongue 32 has a tapered portion 43 of the same slope but slightly closer to its base than tapered portion 22. When the slab 6 reaches the point where portions 22 and 43 are in engagement the outer sides of the side slabs 4 are forced towards the mold wall. With clearances allowed, the slight difierence in height of tapered portions 22 and 43 results in the tops being aligned when a tight fit is secured. After the four slabs are assembled, a generally U-shaped spring clip 44 is forced downwardly across each joint between the slabs with its legs in the slots 26 and 40. Because of the design of the groove 20 and tongue 32 the only actual contact between the slabs 4 and 6 is a line contact between one of the side faces of the groove and the corresponding side face of the tongue and the face 38 so that the parts are easily assembled. The tongue and groove joint provides much better protection against leakage of steel at the vertical joints than the joints in my prior hot tops. The reason for this is that the metal would have to turn four corners to escape, and since the openings between the slabs at these points vary from zero to a very small fraction of an inch the possibility of steel leakage is virtually eliminated. While the specific arrangement shown and described above is preferred the groove could be in the end slab and the tongue in the side slab or the tongue 32 could be made the full width of the end slab. The degree of taper of portion 22 is much greater than the taper in side wall 24 so that a small downward movement of the end slab will force the side slab outwardly a relatively large amount. The amount of taper must be suflicient to force the side slab into engagement with the wall of the mold. While definitely inferior for practical purposes the surface 22 could be horizontal, thus preventing the end slabs 6 from passing completely downward into the mold. When attaching the hot top in a big-end-down mold the pins '42 are placed in the upper holes 16. For varying the height of big-end-up ingots there may be'several lower holes 16, spaced apart as are the upper holes.

When using the sectional hot top in a large mold such as shown in my above mentioned Patent No. 2,465,977, end slabs 6 are provided with a recessed portion 46 at its lower end forming a shoulder 48. A shoulder slab 50 having holes 52 therein is supported from the walls of the mold 2' by means of bent in. round steel rods or hooks 54 which pass through holes 52. In this arrangement tongues 56 are provided in the side slabs 4 and grooves 58 are provided in end slabs 6. The construction of the tongues 56 and groves 58 are essentially the same as the corresponding grooves 20 and tongues 32 of the embodiments shown in Figures I to 9 and the construction of slabs 4 and 6 is otherwise essentially the same as slabs 4 and 6.

In assembly the supporting slabs 50 are suspended from the top of the mold 2 by means of hooks 54 and the end slabs 6' positioned thereon after which the side slabs 4 are inserted. The top of slabs 50 extending above shoulder 48 serves to back up the slabs 6' at its thickest portion.

While several embodiments of my invention have been shown and described it will be apparent that other adaptations and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A sectional hot top for a mold comprising a first pair of refractory slabs supported on said mold in spaced relationship, a second pair of refractory slabs located between and in abutting relationship with said first pair of slabs, each end of each of said first pair of slabs having a generally vertical groove in its abutting face, and a generally vertical portion adjacent each end of both of the slabs of the second pair projecting into the corresponding grooves of the other slabs, the lower end of the bottom of each of said grooves tapering downwardly and inwardly toward the other slab of said first pair of slabs at an angle to the upper part of the associated groove, the lower end of each of said generally vertical portions having a tapered portion matching the tapered portion of the associated groove, the tapered portion of each of said generally vertical portions being arranged at an angle to the upper part of the associated vertical portion.

2. A sectional hot top for a mold according to claim 1 in which the inner side wall of each groove slopes outwardly in a downward direction.

3. A sectional hot top for a mold according to claim 1 in which the upper part of the outer faces of said slabs have generally veertical slots therein adjacent their ends, and a generally U-shaped spring clip extending across each joint between slabs with its legs in said slots.

4. A sectional hot top for a mold comprising a first pair of refractory slabs supported on said mold in spaced relationship, a second pair of refractory slabs located between said first pair of slabs, the inner side surface of each of the first pair of slabs contacting the end surfaces of the other pair of slabs, the lower part of the matching contacting surfaces having matching tapered portions, the tapered portions on the said inner side surfaces of one of said first pair of slabs tapering downwardly and inwardly toward the other slab of said first pair of slabs at an angle to the upper part of the associated inner side surface and the tapered portions of the second pair of slabs being arranged at an angle to the end surfaces thereabove, and second contacting surfaces between said slabs generally perpendicular to the first contacting surfaces, one of said second contacting surfaces tapering downwardly and longitudinally outwardly of the slabs of said first pair of slabs.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,804,204 Charman et al. May 5, 1931 1,892,464 Haws Dec. 27, 1932 2,444,838 Marburg July 6, 1948 2,465,977 Marburg Mar. 29, 1949 

